REX Electric

Toughpad A1: Rugged tablets keep field workers and headquarters on the same page.

One of Chicago's largest electrical firms, REX Electric, employs 350 electricians and serves a variety of commercial, institutional and residential customers. Until recently, REX Electric used a paper-based system of workflow management involving reams of work-order printouts, paper forms and multiple trips back and forth to the office. This wasted significant amounts of time and created the potential for error and confusion.

Field workers and headquarters can communicate in real time, resulting in greater effieiencies and better customer service

Rex Electric updated its system with a small arsenal of Panasonic Toughpad™ FZ-A1 equipped with ProntoForms, a mobile workflow software solution. With the rugged 10-inch Android™-based Toughpad A1, field workers were now armed with a high-resolution camera and access to the cloud to submit electronic transmissions from the field. For the first time, field workers could complete forms and capture text, photos, signatures, barcodes, GPS coordinates and time information all from one location. Managers at headquarters were finally able to receive reporting, monitor progress and dispatch work orders in real time, without having to wait for field workers to return.

MAXIMIZING EFFICIENCIES WHILE INCREASING PRODUCTIVITY

Project Manager Joshua Davidson explains, "ProntoForms using the Toughpad helped me save a lot of time. Now, instead of having to run back and forth from the job to get information, I can simply relay it back to my project manager from the jobsite."

What's more, field workers are able to stay productive and efficient in virtually any working environment, without fear of device failure due to a drop or fall. With 4G LTE connectivity from AT&T, the tablets are equipped to take advantage of the cloud-based ProntoForms system no matter where their work takes them.

"ProntoForms using the Toughpad helped me save a lot of time. Now, instead of having to run back and forth from the job to get information, I can simply relay it back to my project manager from the jobsite."